// List all the available serial ports println(Serial.list()); // I know that the first port in the serial list on my mac // is always my Arduino, so I open Serial.list()[0]. // Open whatever port is the one you're using. myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600); // don't generate a serialEvent() unless you get a newline character: myPort.bufferUntil('\n'); // set inital background: background(0); } void draw () { // everything happens in the serialEvent() }